expression of their preference as to the style which should be selected.

Mr. CLIFFORD, after a few earnest and appropriate remarks with reference to the value of a printed catalogue and the importance of its early publication, presented to the meeting a subscription-paper, which had already received the signatures of several of the members of the Society, the terms of which are as follows:

"With a view to secure the earliest publication of the catalogue of the library, as now proposed for the press, the undersigned agree to pay, on or before the first day of January next, the sums set against their names, respectively; for which they are to be credited, and allowed to take such volumes of the Society's publications as they may desire, within one year from this time, at the prices charged to members.

Mr. SAVAGE read an interesting and characteristic letter from S. A. Otis to James Otis the elder, 'with a view of correcting what Mr. Savage considered to be a misconception notwithstanding the general prevalence of the opinion-regarding the cause of the loss of the mental faculties of the great patriot, James Otis. The letter contained evidence of the existence of a tendency to insanity in the younger Otis, which manifested itself at an early period of his life. Mr. Savage regarded this testimony as sufficient to refute the received notion, that the violence inflicted upon him in State Street was the occasion of the sad mental eclipse under which he suffered towards the close of his life.

JUNE MEETING.

The Society held its stated monthly meeting on Thursday, June 17, at twelve o'clock, M., at their rooms in Tremont Street, Boston; the President, Hon. ROBERT C. WINTHROP, in the chair.

The Librarian announced donations from the States of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and South Carolina; the Historical Society of Tennessee; the Trustees of the Perkins Institution; the Salem Athenæum; the Carpenters' Company of Philadelphia; Lieutenant-Colonel J. D. Grahame, U.S.A.; J. S. Warren, Esq.; Daniel T. Taylor, Esq.; Samuel A. Green, M.D.; James Lenox, Esq.; Hon. William T. Davis; General De Peyster, New York; and from Messrs. Ellis, Livermore, Robbins, Warren, Whitney, and Winthrop, of the Society.

In the absence of the Corresponding Secretary, the President read letters of acceptance from Rev. A. P. Peabody, D.D.; and J. G. Holland, M.D.

Hon. WILLIAM STURGIS, and LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, Esq., were elected Resident Members; Hon. RICHARD RUSH, of Pennsylvania, an Honorary Member; and Hon. GEORGE P. MARSH, of Vermont, a Corresponding Member, of the Society.

The President read a note from Hon. Josiah Quincy, accompanying an assignment of his whole interest in the "Memoir of John Quincy Adams" to the Society.

The President, in connection with the above-named instrument, laid before the Society a copy of the "Memoir

of the Life of John Quincy Adams," which had been politely furnished to the Society in advance of its publication. Whereupon, it was unanimously Voted, That this Society accept the assignment of the contract so generously offered by our venerable associate, on the conditions specified in the same; cordially acknowledging and reciprocating the expressions of interest and respect which it contains, and thanking Mr. Quincy for his valuable contribution to the honor and resources of the Society.

Mr. WHITNEY exhibited specimens of the new photolithographic art as applied to the exact copying and printing of old manuscripts.

SPECIAL MEETING.

The Society held a special meeting in the afternoon of this day, the 17th of June (the anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill), at the house of Mr. Longfellow, in Cambridge, which, for nine months, was the residence and head-quarters of Washington. The meeting was called to order by the President at half-past five o'clock.

Mr. WINTHROP, in opening the meeting, alluded to the occasion and the place, and also to the circumstances attending the assumption of the command of the American army of 1775 by General Washington. remarks were substantially as follows: —

His

None could have entered this venerable mansion without recalling the words which the accomplished host once addressed to a child, but which are no less adapted to stir the feelings of full-grown men,

"Once, ah! once, within these walls,

One whom memory oft recalls,

The Father of his Country, dwelt;
And yonder meadows broad and damp,
The fires of the besieging camp
Encircled with a burning belt.
Up and down these echoing stairs,
Heavy with the weight of cares,
Sounded his majestic tread:
Yes, within this very room
Sat he in those hours of gloom,
Weary both in heart and head."

The day is memorable as the anniversary of the first great battle for American liberty. But it is hardly a less interesting circumstance, in view of the place of the meeting, that Washington's commission, as commander-in-chief of the American armies, was prefaced and dated on this same day, -a circumstance which gave opportunity for the beautiful allusion of

Mr. Everett, when he said that on this day "Providence kept an even balance with the cause, and, while it took from us a Warren, gave us a Washington."

Washington was unanimously elected commander-in-chief, at the call of Massachusetts (as Mr. Bancroft, in his new volume, well says), on the 15th of June, 1775. On the 16th, he was informed of the election by the President of the Continental Congress, in presence of the assembled body; when he accepted it in a speech, of which one sentence, at least, should never be forgotten:

"But lest some unlucky event should happen, unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room, that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with."

History has already pronounced its judgment upon that memorable disclaimer of one to whom it was justly said by the Speaker of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, at the close of the French war, "Your modesty is equal to your valor; and that surpasses the power of any language that I possess."

On the 17th of June, a committee, composed of Mr. Lee, Mr. Rutledge, and Mr. John Adams, reported his commission; which was adopted, and ordered to be signed by the President, our own Massachusetts John Hancock.

Washington lost little time in repairing to the post which had been thus assigned him. Mr. Irving tells us, that, on the 20th, he received his commission from Hancock. On the 21st, he set out from Philadelphia on horseback, accompanied by General Charles Lee and General Schuyler.

When twenty miles out from Philadelphia, he is stated to have met a courier, in hot haste, with despatches giving an account of the battle of Bunker Hill, thus showing the rapidity with which the news travelled in those days, when

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